Two-game ban against Dodgers’ Utley dropped

Chase Utley No,26 of the Los Angeles Dodgers signs autographs for fans prior to the spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Camelback Ranch on March 5, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. AFP PHOTO

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley had his two-game suspension dropped Sunday (Monday in Manila) by Major League Baseball regarding a controversial slide in last year’s National League playoffs.

The move means Utley will be available on opening day for the Dodgers.

Utley was suspended last October after his hard slide to thwart a double-play in the second game of the playoff series against New York left Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada with a broken leg.

“I don’t care really,” Tejada said Sunday. “I don’t care. I care about me. I’m healthy here. I’m happy here. So I don’t care about what’s going to happen there or what’s the decision they take there.”

Major League Baseball’s chief baseball officer, Joe Torre, called the slide illegal for being a “rolling block that occurs away from the base.”

Last month, the league and players’ union adopted a new rule that banned such slides to break up potential double plays.

Utley appealed the ban and skipped the Dodgers games in New York, where stadium and hotel security was intensified by the Dodgers due to anger over Utley’s move.

“The most important thing is that the rule was changed,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.

Utley re-signed with the Dodgers in the off-season for one year at $7 million to play at second base and third base.